


Dreams Under the Willow Tree

by styl



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: 2000s, F/F, might get smutty at some point idk i just know its gonna be wholesome as well as bittersweet, no one asked for this but you’re getting it anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-01 07:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21441271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/styl/pseuds/styl
Summary: In the early 2000s, on the edge of suburbia in a town called Purgatory, there’s Nicole, a mostly quiet redhead who smokes behind the church, and Waverly, a kind hearted church girl- both of which living in their in-between months of high school and collage. Will they be able to help each other get through all the changes occurring in their lives?
Relationships: Nicole Haught & Chrissy Nedley, Nicole Haught & Randy Nedley, Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp & Willa Earp, Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Willa Earp & Wynonna Earp
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	1. Sagged Cigars

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! So it’s kind of been forever since I’ve written anything and I really wanted to get back into it so here’s this!!
> 
> Yes, this is an early 2000s fic that no one asked for but- flip phones, you know?

**Chapter One: Sagged Cigars**

Sunday. Way to early for anyone to function yet Waverly was awake, putting in the effort to look her best as she had done every Sunday since she was three. She went from her hair in pigtails to getting up at five o’clock to straightening it, which took longer than she would ever admit to anyone; but that’s price of having long hair. Her smile and wave used to be enough but it’s power slowly faded with age, her wave which used to fly wherever it liked slowly turned into the sign of the cross. Father, son, holy spirit. Up, down, left, right. North, south, east, west. She had to find the patterns in things, how it was all relative, she needed answers and connections to everything, a word or reasoning. She had no idea why, she just did, she wanted to know all possibilities for one question: _why?_

Waverly huffed the breath she didn’t realise she was holding as she completed straightening her hair, she stood up and looked at her white dress with blue flowers over them that her mother had bought her.

_God, I wish Wynonna was here to tell her what she always did; church isn’t a style._ Waverly smiled while rolling her eyes and headed downstairs, her wedged boots making quiet clonks on each step.

“Waverly, Juan Carlo said we gotta be a little earlier today because he’s starting early so I can have that meeting with him afterwards. So, we don’t have time for breakfast this morning.” Michelle explained as Waverly made it to the living room where her mum was picking up her bag with car keys in hand.

“I don’t have to go to that, mama, do I?” Waverly lazily slurred her words out from the lack of energy.

Michelle chuckled lightly, “No, I’m not going to force anything, if your sister taught me anything it was that. Now come on, let’s get going- God is patient but JC is not.”

Every Sunday the ten minute drive consisted of Waverly looking out the window and letting her mind run as fast as the wheels on the car. She would question everything but mainly why she went every Sunday.

_It’s a way to spend more time with mum._

_It makes her feel less silly about how much she believes, I don’t wanna do what dad did._

_I’ve gotta speak to God I guess... if whatever God is is listening._

_Shit I forgot my history notes._

Sometimes she would get a little sidetracked from what she was actually thinking, never finding a solution to the _why_she always questioned.

Michelle pulled the car over on the edge of Church Street, the church located seven buildings down. She turned the engine off and turned her head to Waverly who then did the same.

“You ready?” Michelle smiled.

“Ready.”

Waverly grinned as they both did their handshake that they’d been doing as long as Waverly could remember: sign of the cross, then high fiving followed by putting their hand over their heart and in unison speaking before opening the car doors, “For Willa.”

It was silly, but it was a tradition. Willa made it up when she was young.

A red headed girl was leant up against the brick wall to the photo developing shop ‘Snaps’, one hand holding up her green bike and the other holding a cigarette which particles of ash floated off of. She watched as the last people went into the church across the road, a mother walked in not paying attention to her daughter who was slightly behind. The girl slightly took the others interest, she starred at her a second longer than she usually would with anyone else. She watched as her hair spun with the movement of the girls’ head, from the church to the road behind her, then to herself, the redhead lightly flinched making the trail of smoke jagger slightly.

The shorter girl stopped walking midway up the stairs to the doors of the church as they starred. The taller one thought her red ray of hair was long, but she wouldn’t come close to beating this girls, for what she lacked in height she had in hair. Her eyes slightly squinted as she observed. The street was completely empty, nothing in sight was moving apart from the redhead’s hand which raised towards her mouth, the cigarette sitting on her lips.

She was expecting the brunette to look away at the sight as all the other church boys and girls did, or at least their parents made them when they spotted her cigarette. But not with her. She just looked, observed. She grinned lightly with a small chuckle escaping her control from being surprise and flicked the ash off her cigarette, followed by a jokingly signed salute to the girl with the two fingers holding the cigarette, which allowed a smoke trail to follow her movement. The smaller girl grinned, only raising her hand up lightly from its relaxed position to give a small wave before she stopped herself and turned around.

She made her way into the church, looking back once more to grin at the only person she could see outside.

*** *** ***

Waverly stood outside the church listening in on the other kids her age complaining about how they could be preparing for collage and doing extra studying instead of being at church, the one thing she didn’t want to think about after just hearing JC talk about religious intention for an hour. She distanced herself from the conversation to the point where she wandered off and no one noticed. She walked towards the direction of the car but was stopped in her tracks at the sound of a small cough. She turned her head to see who it was behind the church.

A band t-shirt, baggy jeans and sneakers met her eye first, a style she wished she could pull off at church but probably would never be allowed. The flaming red hair matched the small sparks at the end of the cigarette which she drew a deep breath of, then letting the smoke escape around the curves of her lips. Once the girl spotted Waverly walking towards her she pulled her black headphones down off her hair but left her walkman running; _Late Nite by The Strokes_ playing faintly.

“You know, smoking isn’t the best for you.” Waverly said crossing her arms for comfort.

The red head grinned, “Well its better than doing something illegal.”

“Huh.” Waverly lightly laughed, raising her head, “What about addiction?”

She raised her hands lightly in surrender, “Hey, I only smoke on Sundays.”

“Really?” Waverly grinned not believing her.

“Really.” She replied back, taking another puff, “What about you? You smoke?”

“No.”

The redheads eyes flickered as she looked her up and down, she uncrossed her legs and leaned off the wall, taking a step closer to Waverly, “But you pray.”

Waverly grinned and moved her face slightly closer to the girl, she could smell that the cigarette attempt to mask a perfume. She moved her focus from her hand right up to her eyes and held contact, “Only on Sundays.”

The redheads lips parted slightly as she grinned and took a step backwards as she realised the girl had more personality that everyone in the church combined. She slightly contemplated before speaking, “Why haven’t I seen you before?”

Waverly’s eyebrows slightly raised, “I’m not sure, this suburb is pretty secluded from everything else.”

“Yeah but Purgatory’s huge- where’d you go to school?”

“Purgatory Private.”

“Makes sense.”

Waverly smiled lightly, “I’m guessing you went to Ghost River Public then?”

“Yeah, and with a weeks worth of freedom I realised how bad the teachers actually were.”

Waverly grinned at the comment. Her eyes stared right into the redheads, her pupils slightly dilating as they focused fully, everything started to feel as if the world was coming to a pause- the rustling of distant leaves in the trees muffled and the wheels of cars had entered too far into the distance. She quickly shook off the trance and asked, “I uh- I never got your name?”

The girl smiled and held out her hand which Waverly took moments after, “It’s Nicole, Nicole Haught.”

“Waverly… Earp.” She replied, her tone shifting as her face turned into a grin before the sound of a horn honking went off on the street which shocked the both of them.

Nicole looked over the shorter girl to see her mothers silhouette gesturing towards her before the car took off.

“Sshhit I’ve gotta go,” Nicole said dropping her cigarette, putting it out with the rubber bottom of her sneaker before picking it up again and grabbing the handles of her bike that was leant up against the wall, “are uh- are you gonna be here next week?”

“Only on Sunday.” Waverly replied.

Nicole went to reply but instead grinned widely at the girls choice of words, she started stumbling backwards trying to not fall over as she moved closer to the road “Hopefully I’ll see you then.”

“See you then!” Waverly called out as Nicole turned around, throwing the cigarette in the bin on the edge of the footpath before jumping on her bike.

Once she got stable after a few peddles on the road she quickly let go of the handle bars to adjust her headphones, the next song on the album, _Hard to Explain, _blared a little too loud through the headset into her ears- just the way she liked it. Paddling through the neighbourhood like this always felt like the best moment of her day, the sunrise filling the streets with golden yellow light upon the brick and wooden buildings, lighting up the subtle darkness that was the road. The rustling of the trees slipping their way through pauses in the music encapsulated her in the true feeling of suburbia, along with the faint sound of laughter whenever she road past a pair of people matched with a dog skipping along.

She felt free. She’d paddle as fast as possible to then let her bike fly, usually catching up to the speed of the car her parents sat in just meters away before slowly falling behind again. Anyone who took a glance at her at her freest would be met with a dimpled smile and her hair.

Her hair. The radiating trail of flames which was the last thing Waverly was able to see as she watched Nicole fade off into the distance over the hill. She even kept staring when she was completely out of sight, the only thing making her blink her eyes was an auburn leaf falling in front of her view. That and her mother appearing behind her.

Her hands touched her daughters shoulders as she matched her view, “What are you looking at, baby girl?”

Waverly spat out words as she thought them from the subtle shock of the question, “Wha- nothing. No one. A friend. She left.”

“Okay; you ready to go?” She replied without question as she started moving towards the car.

“Yeah, ready.”

*** *** ***

After a quick change into her ripped jeans and rainbow stripped t-shit she put her ipod into its slot on the speaker and pressed shuffle, _Colours by Grouplove _started blaring through the speakers. Her head started shaking up and down first, then followed by her body jumping and skipping in beat to the music as she started to clean up her makeup all over her desk. Her room was quite simple, her light blue walls were accompanied by a few band and movie posters and white curtains draped in front of the window that looked out at the somewhat empty lot of the Earp land with the rest of the town a small distance away.

Her brick of a laptop stayed on her desk along with some simple stationary, and a pink pen with a ball of small feathers on top. She had baby pink bed sheets with gray bonus blankets thrown over the end. She had a crystal lamp on her wooden bedside table along with a photo of Willa, Wynonna and herself next to it. It was Waverly’s earliest memory; the three of them running through the park near the lake with long grass that came up to their knees, right next to the willow tree. It was one of the few memories she had with Willa.

Suddenly her black Razr flip phone began to buzz against her bedside table. She excitedly jumped with her body extended over her beds side, grabbing the phone mid jump and flipping herself over to be lying on her back. Her arms extended enough for her eyes to be able to read the name on the small display screen.

** _WYNZ_ **

** **

Waverly excitedly jerked her hand so the flip phone would open and held it to her ears.

“Hey sis!”

“Hey, baby girl! Is there music playing?” Wynonna spoke.

“Yup!” Waverly answered with excitement.

“Okay…” Wynonna replied as they sat in a moments silence before she spoke again, Waverly could hear her smile, “It’s Grouplove….. colours?”

“How the hell-“ Waverly began to question impressed before laughing.

“It’s a secret talent.” She replied as cocky as possible, “So how’s your first week of freedom been?”

Waverly replied, her energy dropping slightly, “Ehh, apart from the absolute boredom and loneliness, it’s not half bad.”

“Oh baby girl, I’m so sorry. They really didn’t take you back?” Wynonna replied with a serious tone.

“Nope.”

The last semester of school had been an absolute mess for Waverly; during the first term she had dated Champ and as he was one of the few guys who would actually pay attention to her so she gave a lot of attention to him.

A little too much.

More than a little too much.

Champ would call it clingy, yet if she slightly stepped back he would say she was uninterested. It was one of many mind games he would play.

It got to the point where she basically stopped talking to her group of cheerleading friends and would only talk to him. Her relationship with everyone began to fade; including with her mother and even Wynonna. So when it came to the small break before the last term and finals, you could imagine how heavily Waverly’s life changed when Champ and her were invited to a party. All was well until she found Champ in a position way further than they had gone with another girl. Another cheerleader.

Waverly blamed herself for the longest time, she also blamed dropping the spirit stick but she would never admit that to anyone. It took a very apologetic and lengthy phone call to Wynonna at 3 a.m. for her to feel like it wasn’t her fault. Champ manipulated her and Wynonna made sure Waverly knew that wasn’t okay. By the time their relationship ended, most of Waverly’s so-called friends had moved on and wanted nothing to do with her outside of cheerleading. The childhood nickname of freak also started popping back up when they talked about her in the halls. So Waverly focused on her studies and cheered next to the one member of the squad who didn’t ignore her, she sat in the cafeteria alone most days apart from when Jeremy had his odd day outside of the science lab. They mainly would study together and only met up once or twice outside of school.

So Waverly had just decided to make a shift on her focus; from Champ to studying. Now that both were over, she wasn’t too sure what was next.

Wynonna’s voice was full of sincerity, “I’m sorry, Waves, and I’m sorry I couldn’t make it down this weekend to be with you.”

“It’s okay,” Waverly replied trying to cheer herself up, “How’s collage life been?”

“Finishing up the first year of medicine feel so good, like next year is ‘gonna be a fresher start, and not just for me. Mercedes kept saying “I need it to end now please I need a restart” which was funny cos she really just wants to go out clubbing, but Rosita even mentioned it once or twice.”

“Rosita?” Waverly questioned startled, “As in top of her class for medical biology whatever-the-hell said she needs to restart?”

“Yup, baby girl, it’s hard to believe but medicine isn’t just a game of operation.” Wynonna joked as Waverly giggled, “But hey did you apply all the places you ‘wanna go?”

“Yup, I’m begging for University of Calgary, I need to be as close to you as possible because I can’t handle this any longer but it all depends on my results.”

“Neither can I. You worked your little butt off so I’m sure you’ll get in. If you do you can move out of that hell-hole and come live with me, Rosita and Mercedes.”

“No one’s taken the spare rooms yet?” Waverly asked taken back.

“Waverly!” Michelle called from downstairs, “Come down! Lunch- and we’re leaving soon!”

“Crap, mums calling.” Waverly said kicking herself up from her bed and running down the stairs.

Waverly could feel Wynonna rolling her eyes through the tone in her voice, “_Hm- _keep me on. I forgot to call last night and her telling me off would be worse if she knew I rang you and didn’t talk to her.”

“Alright, love you ‘Wyn!” Waverly smiled as she reached the entrance to the kitchen.

“Love you too.” Wynonna replied as Waverly handed her phone to Michelle.

“Wow so you don’t have time to call me but you got time to call the rest of the family?” Michelle half joked as she walked off into the living room, leaving Waverly alone sitting in the kitchen with a simple sandwich cut into two triangular slices.

Waverly’s eyes found their natural path of looking out the window above the kitchen sink and her mum continued talking to her sister and gathering random things and putting them into her handbag. Waverly’s mind drifted into the many questions she had unanswered which had usually stayed the same. Until today. A new spark flickered as the lightbulb in her mind lit up a new area to be curious about, one that was in the dark and unknown to her previously;

_Who is Nicole Haught?_

*** *** ***

Nicole threw her bike against the garage door right in front of the car, she adjusted the way her headphones sat on her head as she walked through the front door. As soon as she entered she heard the familiar yells of her parents about her smoking behind the church, not attending church, dressing inappropriately for church, and surly a bunch of other topics about how she had somehow done something wrong, but Nicole was never too sure what they entirely were because the sound that came out of her parents’ mouths was her cue to turn her music up. All the way up. So the ending of _New York City Cops by The Strokes_ blared through the speakers of her headset. Walking down the hallway to her room she randomly yelled out in agreement to her parents. Even though she had no idea what they were saying it always somehow answered what they were complaining about.

As she got to her room her main thought was; _thank God I’ve got a lock and headphones._

Within a matter of seconds Nicole had unplugged her iPod from the cord attached to her computer, switched her headphones from her cassette player to her iPod and pressed shuffle; _Kiss With A Fist by Florence + The Machine_started playing on the shuffle which instantly made Nicole smile. She picked up her hair brush and stood in front of the mirror inside her closet door as she lightly nodded her head along to the music and getting the tangles from the wind out of her hair.

Her room was cozy, her walls were a deep ocean blue and were covered by band posters and vinyls she had managed to stick to the wall with large amounts of blue tack. Her black and red bedsheets matched her black beside table and desk which held her red laptop. She had a picture frame next to her prism lamp of a photo of her, Chrissy’s mum and Chrissy, her god-sister and one of the people who knew her the most.

As Nicole chucked her brush onto her bed a headphone fell out of her ear to reveal the small sounds of scratches at her door. She lightly jogged over to her door and unlocked it, letting Calamity Jane in before closing it again. Calamity twisted around her legs and purred before wondering to the blanket under Nicole’s desk which was a second bed to her.

Suddenly her red chord phone rang which sad on her beside table.

“Hello?” She spoke after two rings before picking it up.

“Yo, Red.” The other line replied.

“Hey Dolls, what’s up?” Nicole said slightly more relaxed than before.

“Uh- you need to check MSN that’s what’s up, I sent you something yesterday.”

“Sorry I was at Chrissy’s till late yesterday, let me check, one ‘sec.”

Nicole momentarily put the phone down against the table as she quickly grabbed her laptop and jumped onto the bed; one hand logging into MSN and the other adjusting where the phone was against her raised shoulder and tilted head.

“I’m in. _You’ve been invited to XD’s Grad party. Yes this is a little late but I’ve got a free house. Details below, no plus ones._ Wow Dolls, no plus ones? That’s kind of unlike you.”

“Look it’s so less people ask this time because I’ve invited most of Ghost River plus like over half of Purgatory High’s grad year.”

“Why didn’t you just post this to your wall then?” Nicole smirked.

Dolls huffed, “My parents made me add them on my facebook like two days ago.”

“Gross.”

“Yeah.”

“Wait- Purgatory Private?” Nicole said in light shock.

“Yeah, your ‘cuz Chrissy is invited don’t worry.”

“Not actually my cousin, but who else?”

“Uhh well there’s Jeremy and his whole science group, they’re complete nerds but can be pretty cool. Then the basketball team-“

Nicole was stumped with disappointment. “So it’s mainly guys then.”

“I guess it is, I didn’t even realise.”

“Great.”

“Calm down, I asked Chrissy to pass the invite onto her cheer team, so there’ll be cute girls for you to look at and me to talk to.” Dolls joked.

“Hilarious, thanks Dolls.” Nicole blurted bluntly.

“Hey, don’t lose hope, there’ll be someone someday- and you might just meet them if you come to my party.”

“Uhhg fine.”Nicole pretended to give into Dolls’ speech but she was just really hoping the girl from church would be one of the few girls going.

Dolls’ voice sounded like it spoke with a smile for once, “Yes Red! You won’t regret it!”

“I better not.” She mumbled back.

“Hey, aren’t you telling them today?”

“Yeah, I think so. Hopefully I won’t chicken out this time.”

“Like I know they go to church ‘nd all but they’re not _that_ religious, are they?”

“I hope not. I’m honestly not sure.” Nicole mumbled, her nerves crawling up her spine.

“Just know I got your back, Nicole, if it’s too much you don’t have to come tonight.”

It was the most sincere Dolls had ever been, apart from Nicole actually came out to him of course, “Thanks X, see you later.”

With her laptop still pulled up and not much else to do she sat there for a moment and let her mind contemplate on how exactly she was going to do this. How they would react. The uncertainty of it all was slowly driving her insane to the point where she had no other choice but to go find out. After a shutting her laptop and giving Calamity a few head rubs she exited her room, leaving the door opened, her music playing, laptop unplugged and closet door opened with the mirror exposed.

Step by step down the hallway her mind began to race more and more.

_Mum, I’m g- hmm no._

_Dad, I’ve got something to share about me, something inside of- no I sound like I’m about to say I’m pregnant._

_I failed high school! Joking, I’m just a les-_

“Hi, sweetheart!” Her mum greeted before her head spun back to the dishes she was finishing cleaning up in the sink.

“You going somewhere?” Her dad questioned.

There was a small silence as her mum turned the running water off, the sound of the water twisting and turning down the drain was louder than the drum beat that was coming out of Nicole’s room. The small crinkle of her dad’s newspaper played louder than usual in her ears. Everything felt heightened.

“Uh- yeah, tonight at Dolls’, he’s having a get together.” Nicole spoke shyly.

They both did a slight head nod, knowing Nicole was pretty responsible.

“-But,” She added on, “I actually wanted to talk about something with the two of you.”

“What is it, lovely?” Her mother said as she completed drying her hands, throwing the tea towel down next to the drying rack, her dad not fully paying attention as he had resumed to his paper.

“You might want to sit down for this.”

*** *** ***

Michelle walked steadily pushing their shopping trolly in front of her while Waverly tagged along slightly behind her, trying to keep up in the rush her mother was in. She fiddled with the paper in her hand that listed the few items they needed, listening to _She Will Be Loved _echo around the supermarket played from speakers too cheep to make the audio clear. Michelle hummed along to the song as they reached the register, Waverly observed what was around her while the beeping of the items being scanned rung in her ears. The store was empty for the most part, they had two registers opened instead of just one today. She could hear the sweet laughter of children and their little pattering footsteps running a few isles down, accompanied by their father telling them to stop running.

Waverly’s head turned the other way as she heard the sliding doors machinery work. After only a second of looking she could tell who it was. Her expression changed to call out her name, but she stopped herself at the sight of her. The girls head was hung low, her black hoodie over her head only exposing a few curves of her face and strands of red hair, which she actively pushed back behind her hoodie as she strode to the edge of an isle past Waverly.

Nicole stares at the three options in front of her; craft scissors, cooking scissors and fabric scissors. She picks up a golden pair of the fabric ones, checks the off white paper tag reading $4.99 before walking towards the register, not knowing Waverly’s at the one behind her back. She sniffles and keeps her head hung low, the boy at the register doesn’t say anything and scans her item.

Before he can even read out the price Nicole has dropped a five dollar bill on the counter, grabbed the scissors and fast walked out the door. Waverly watched her every move until her mother asked her to pick up the paper bag containing the few groceries along with a receipt. They both thank the girl at the register and head outside, as the machinery worked its way to open the doors, they stepped out. The first thing Waverly sees is the green bike on the other side of the road zooming past her, Nicole riding off as quick as possible.

Waverly couldn’t help but just watch and wonder what happened between church and now, her whole mood had shifted from a confident to a closed off state. Waverly held the paper bag tighter to her chest as a small swoop of cool air flew down the street, her hair fumbling slightly in front of her view.

“Waverly! I’ve got work and you’re got to get ready for tonight, so quit daydreaming and lets get going!” Michelle called out to Waverly from the car window which was rolling down as she spoke.

Waverly thought she already asked all the questions she could about this girl in her mind but now a new one had arrived. Stunted, she walked back to the car, her mind feeling numb as she kept wondering; _why do I care so much about someone I don’t even know?_

As she stiffly sat down in the passenger seat, closing the door whilst putting the groceries on the floor she found herself stumped. Confused, she let out a breath which at first was from her nose but then swapped to her mouth as her lips formed a small grin and her eyebrows crossed slightly from confusion.

“What ‘cha thinkin’ ‘bout? A boy or food or somethin’?” Michelle asked as she yanked the key and began to back out as soon as the engine made a noise, causing Waverly to have a slight moment of whiplash back into the reality of her mother being next to her.

“What? No.” She replied confused.

Michelle looked back at her confused, half brushing it off,“You sure? ‘Cos to me you’re fixated and almost droolin’ over the thought of something.”

As the words left Michelle’s mouth Waverly’s eyes widened slightly in realisation,

_Oh fuck._

*** *** ***

Nicole stood in the bathroom next to her bedroom, she’d locked the door and drawn the blinds, having only the dim glow on the singular light in the room and the small reflection it had off of the mirror above the sink which Nicole stood looking at herself; tears uncontrollably dropping from her eyes, her skin was blotchy and her whole body felt uncomfortable at the joints. Her eyes shifted from herself to the golden scissors sat to the side of the sinks curve. Nicole tapped her fingers twenty times against the edge of the surface before picking up the scissors, holding them half way to her chest where she would usually hold her phone when texting.

She just looked at them.

She opened them slightly, just enough to see the other side which wasn’t reflective.

The position she held them in moved slightly and she caught a glance of herself in the scissors.

Nicole’s immediate reaction was putting the scissors back down. She turned to the small battery radio they had next to the three toothbrushes in a cup and flicked the on button. _New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down by LCD Soundsystem _played at half volume, the chip tiled room allowing for a slight echo to bounce around.

Nicole grasped the edges of the sink with both her hands and rocked herself slightly looking down at her feet, a tear from her left eye landed on her left shoe, a tear from her right landed on her leg. The unevenness makes her even more uncomfortable just for a second. She rolls her eyes and her mind goes back to the reason she was crying: _why?_

Nicole looks herself in the mirror again, dead in the eyes. She listens to the song as she glares, still crying, yet holding an anger at herself. She listens to the song a little to intensely. She puffs air from her mouth to stop her from sobbing, she has to keep this silent and hidden. It’s more comfortable that way. The songs lyrics ring in her ears.

_Maybe you're right_

_Maybe I'm wrong_

_And just maybe you're right_

As the guitar picks up and the drums and symbols clash she rocks herself upright.

“Fuck it.”

Nicole grabs the scissors without looking down at them with her right hand and holds out a lock of her waist length hair. She pushes against the metal around her thumb to one side and the metal between her index and middle finger to the other, the scissors opening and her swift movement of her arm allowing the scissors sharpest side to swing through the space between her head and her extended left arm.

The little tension the was from keeping her left arm from being fully extended left, as did the tears from her eyes when the release caused her to blink.

She starred at herself in the mirror again and held a blank expression.

“Shit.”


	2. Sagged Cigars Cont.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi all! so last time i forgot to link the spotify playlist (oopsss) so i’m going to link it now, it’s gonna have all the songs in the fic on it in order <3
> 
> link: https://open.spotify.com/user/stylistarz/playlist/6uTELa3v3Rf7f0CYwRJEkC?si=OmT7MpfISDiJn8NYd_EQdw

**Chapter Two: Sagged Cigars Cont.**

Dolls closed the front door to his house, the door shutting muffled the sound of _No One by Alicia Keys _playing inside, the base guitar and drums loud enough just to vibrate through the walls within the house. He was glancing down at his phone, reading over the small thread of texts:

** _NIK_ **

_Come outside_

** _DOLLZ_ **

_Come inside_

** _NIK_ **

_X, plz ive got a sitch_

** _DOLLZ_ **

_Hold up, I’m coming_

Dolls began to talk as he walked down the stairs, “Is this about you-“

Nicole just starred at him as his face changed from relaxed to shocked. Dolls shook his head and collected his thoughts before he spoke,

“Girl, what?”

Nicole clenched her teeth together, she moved her hands in her jacket pockets out to the side slightly in defence, “Is it that bad?”

Dolls grabbed her arms and looked at the sides of her to gain more perspective, he grasped a few of the uneven short locks of red hair in his hand as he spoke, “I mean, it could have turned out worse…”

“Amazing.” Nicole said bluntly, beginning to feel somewhat insecure about how she looked. She was wearing the same jeans and sneakers as earlier in the day but had swapped out her top for a black AC/DC shirt she found in the one second hand store in town.

“Hey it’s not even that bad, the main thing is you actually cut your hair. You literally never touch your hair, well, I mean you only almost did dye it black once when you were gonna come out and then chickened out and I had to talk you out of… oh.” Dolls stopped mid sentence in realisation.

“Oh.” Nicole repeated.

“You chickened out again?”

“I chickened out again.” Nicole confirmed as they both began to walk towards the house, “I ended up just talking about me wanting to go to uni for police work ‘nd all.”

“How was that?”

“Not good, they kept saying I need to do business so I can take over the store- like I wanna sell fruit my whole life. I just want to forget about it.” Nicole rolled her eyes.

“Well…” Dolls said swinging the door open, “You’ve come to the right place.”

As the door swing opens Nicole’s met with dimly lit hallways the most crowded she’s ever seen them, people lined had moved to the hall slightly to clear out the lounge room connected to the kitchen. The sliding doors were open to the backyard which was the most crowded with people dancing surrounded by speakers. Dolls took her by the arm and led her to the kitchen, skipping the small queue lining up for drinks as it was his house. Nicole began to pour herself a pineapple and vodka while Dolls explained everything,

“So here’s the vibe; in the back and also the lounge is dance area, next to where the iPod’s set up is a small chill out zone for smoking. Hallway and dining room are also chill out zones.”

“_Mhmm.” _Nicole shook her head in understanding before taking a sip of her drink, clearly not measuring out the vodka as its strength was unexpected.

“Now, I said the basement is off limits but really it’s only open to you, me, Chrissy, Jeremy and whoever you or they meet who’s actually cool.” He said grinning and taking a shot off of one of the tables against the wall in the living room set up next to chips.

“Oh my God, I’m on your VIP list? You do love me.” Nicole teased, taking another sip of her drink.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious when you’re drunk.” Dolls said bluntly before Nicole got defensive,

“I am not drunk.”

“Sure you’re not, light weight. Anyway, last thing; my room is off limits except if all the toilets are full and you’re busting you can use the ensuite.”

“Cool.” Nicole replied as she began to scan the room.

Everyone seemed pretty chilled out, the people dancing had nothing but confident smiles on their faces. Nicole spotted the group of basket ballers from Ghost River and Purgatory Private surrounding a keg and yelling but it was all with stupid smiles. She could help but roll her eyes as the fact that only a few weeks ago they hated each other just for being on opposite sides when really they were all the same.

“Yo, Dolls!”

“Ay, Jeremy! Jeremy, you haven’t met my friend, Nicole. Nicole this is Jeremy, the science guy.”

Jeremy held out his hand,

“Not Bill Nye.”

Nicole shook his hand and smiled at how much she already knew he was a dork, “Figures, nice to meet you. Have you seen Chrissy around?”

“Nedley? Yeah she’s outside.” Jeremy smiled as he plopped a few chips into his mouth followed by one falling onto the floor which he stared at in disappointment.

Nicole smiled compassionately and thanked him before heading outside. She looked at the pile of people dancing in front of her as the song changed to _Kings of Leon’s, Use Somebody._ She heard the sizzling and fizzing noises of beer cans and sodas opening in the small silences which made her feel ever so slightly out of place. With hands in her pocket and a visible sigh which a small haze of fog appear around her mouth she looked to the side of the house towards where the smokers were sitting; opposite them up against the wall sat none other than her God Sister, dressed in a hot pink tube top and low-rise jeans with silver chains attached at the belt. Chrissy eyes widened when she noticed Nicole as she got closer and she stood up from the position she was sitting in up against the wall,

“Holy. Shit. Nicole, _your fucking hair_.” She ran up to her almost falling over with her hands held out to play with it, “I mean, Nicole, this is like _Extreme Makeover_ level shit.”

“As in I changed it and its good or it needs to be changed again ‘cos I cut it that bad?” Nicole asked for clarification.

Chrissy stared at it a little longer before answering, “A bit of both.”

They both leant against the wall and chatted for a little about one another’s days and schools they want to get into, but mainly about how Randy Nedley had let her out with no curfew on a Sunday night. It was unheard of.

“Uhhg I need another drink, I’ll be right back,” Chrissy began to walk off as she noticed a familiar face just a few steps away and spoke once more as Nicole began to turn around, “Waves! ‘Imma go get a drink but this is my cousin Nicole, talk to her she’s nice and not a bitch- and I’m now realising I swear a lot when I’m drunk, wow.”

Before they knew it Chrissy was already inside, leaving Waverly and Nicole starring at each other, both of them unprepared to be seeing the other. Nicole couldn’t help but to scan who was in front of her until she fully realised it was the same girl she saw that same morning. She wore low-rise dark denim jeans with a black belt and small silver gems keeping it at the right length and a forrest green off the shoulder jumper, her hair on her side ponytail falling over the covered side, her collarbone exposed on the other which made Nicole’s eyes dart away quickly.

Waverly did a similar look, her eyes landing on the ends of Nicole’s hair as her eyebrows raised in realisation as she whispered, _Scissors._

“What?” Nicole questioned.

“Nothing, it’s just uh- it’s been a big day for you hasn’t it?” Waverly joked.

Nicole rolled her eyes, “Clearly- any chance you can fix this mess?”

Waverly hummed as she looked at her hair for a few seconds followed by her free hand reaching out, her fingertips running through the right side of Nicole’s face, slightly twisting the strands in between them to gain a small grip which made Nicole’s relaxed tipsy state change to one of complete panic as her heart skipped a beat. Waverly’s smile was soft as she replied,

“Not without a please first.”

Nicole smirked lightly and laughed off her nerves, “Please?”

Waverly pinched her lips against one another before taking a sip of her punch, answering right after she swallowed, “You know where any scissors are?”

Nicole dragged a stool from the lounge into Dolls’ en-suite and closed the door behind her, the sound of teenage girls voices singing to _Plain White T’s Hey There Delilah_ loud in her and Waverly’s ears until the closed door muffled it. She placed the seat down in front of the mirror leaving just enough room between her and the door so Waverly could comfortable walk behind her; her knees pressing into the sinks draws lightly. Waverly walked a few steps from the side of the shower to behind Nicole, looking at her in the mirror and Nicole looking right back. There was a moment where everything felt still, the most silence they had heard the whole time they had been there, both within sound and their minds as the alcoholic fogginess cleared slightly and they realised they were alone, together.

Waverly smiled and shook her hair, breaking the eye contact and looked down at Nicole’s back, her fingertips began to fidget with the ends of the uneven aurburn strands, “Where are the scissors again?”

Nicole’s eyes knowingly blinked up to the girls reflection before she answered in a soft voice, “In the cupboard, right hand side, second shelf.”

Waverly leant forward to open it, half the mirror gone as she looked through the second shelf; her right hand was lightly on Nicole’s shoulder to keep her balance, as was the side of her body as she leaned. Nicole froze at the touch, looking down at her feet and swallowing hard before trying to distract herself,

“So, how do you know Dolls ‘nd Chrissy?”

“I, uh- I don’t really. Xavier, I mean.” Waverly closed the cupboard door, with scissors in one hand she began to pull at Nicole’s hair with another to see where it sat, “Chrissy I know from cheer, she’s one of the few from the squad that I actually like.”

“Are they bitchy?” Nicole put bluntly.

Waverly rolled her eyes but there was still pain in her voice, “Backstabbers,” she flashed her eyes up from Nicole’s hair to her eyes which she saw were covered in sympathy. Waverly took a moment before looking back at her hair, holding it at a pinch a little above Nicole’s shoulders, “Is this length okay?”

Nicole nodded with a soft smile as Waverly began to trim the ends of her hair which fell down to the floor mat they moved from the edge of the shower to under where the stool was. It was silent for a moment, peaceful almost, the sound of the scissors cutting the hair was louder than the vibrations of the guitar from the speakers outside. Everything about the moment felt natural to Nicole.

“So, Nicole, what are you planning to do now that high school is over?” Waverly asked with a smile, her eyes darting at Nicole’s reflection for only a second before falling back to her hair which she continued snipping.

Nicole breathed out heavily before answering, “Well, what I’m going to actually do is a little complicated at the moment because my parents but I’m hoping to get into one in Calgary.”

“Me too,” Waverly added, “and I’m sorry about your parents- that sucks.”

“It’s okay, I’ll figure it out. Are yours okay with whatever you want to do?” Nicole reassured her in her tone she didn’t have to answer if she didn’t want to.

Waverly kept her focus on what she was doing to Nicole’s hair as she answered, “I guess I got lucky with my mum, she’s really supportive and doesn’t really mind. As for my dad, uh, dad’s- they’re both not in the picture. My dad sends money every now and then to my mum and my step dad left when I was little so…”

Nicole was patient and stayed silent for a moment as Waverly’s thoughts collected themselves, Waverly’s hand hung low besides her, Nicole took it in her own, her thumb rubbing along the back. Waverly realised she had unintentionally been holding her breath and allowed herself to breathe, “It’s okay though, I’ve got what I need.” She began working at Nicole’s hair again, “I’m sure you’re parents will come around and support you.”

“I highly doubt it.” Nicole spoke, still slightly worried about Waverly yet allowing the feeling to fade as she clearly wanted to move on with the conversation.

Waverly flashed a smile, “Then I will… I think I’m done.”

Nicole stood up and looked at her hair in the mirror, shaking it out a little and moving it around with her hands. Waverly watched as the halo of red smoothly flew with the girls movements, the ends outlining around her jaw at the small locks that curled upward slightly. Nicole shook her head in slight disbelief,

“I love it.”

She smiled and turned to Waverly not realising how squashed they actually were in the bathroom. Waverly’s eyes changed from slightly shocked how close they were to a softer gaze as she heard the words leave Nicole’s mouth.

“You do?” She whispered, her eyes flashing at Nicole’s lips when she blinked. Her heart felt like it was racing a million miles an hour.

“Yeah.”

Nicole wasn’t sure if it was the effect of the alcohol or Waverly, or both, that caused her body to begin to sway slightly. There they stood, barley a metre apart, eyes darting at each other’s. Their minds were the least clear they had ever been but their body’s understood perfectly what was happening in the magnetising force of their own bubble. Waverly kept looking down to Nicole’s lips, then up to her eyes and back down again as they got closer to one another, their heads tilting slightly. Nicole’s didn’t leave the sight of Waverly’s lips until her eyes subconsciously closed, as did Waverly’s. Nicole’s breath drew heavy as Waverly’s began to draw short. The curves of their lips brushed upon one another, hesitant both their bodies swayed back slightly and paused; hovering. Waverly’s hand which had somehow made its way to Nicole’s side grasped it slightly, her fingers running along the curve of her waist. At the touch, Nicole’s arm on the same side lifted and held Waverly’s, allowing their body’s to both sway towards one each other once again, meeting at one another’s lips. Everything felt slow motion, their parted lips synced with one another as they closed onto each other softly, lightly pulling as their body’s swayed once more and the point of their contact changing from lips to foreheads. Their eyes still shut, terrified to open them as they both had as little of a clue to how the overwhelming feeling came upon them.

It was only the fidget of the door knob that took them out of their trance as Chrissy stumbled into the en-suite, too drunk to realise what had just happened between the two of them.

With a gulp of air in recognition filled her lungs she spoke, “There you both are! Dolls, Dolls, look how beautiful these two are.”

Nicole repositioned herself to seem more relaxed and comfortable as Doll’s came jogging into the room; Waverly on the other hand felt frozen.

“Chrissy I said to wait.”

“Yeah but I’m going to throw up now-“

“Okay, I think it’s time we leave then.” Nicole butted in trying to get her and Waverly out of the situation as quick as possible.

Chrissy played with Nicole’s hair as she realised it was shorter than before while she was still in reach as Nicole grabbed Waverly’s hand and led her out of Doll’s room, Chrissy called out for Waverly not to go out into the hall but was quickly distracted by her queasiness.

Waverly kept walking once they reached the hallway, letting go of Nicole’s hand as she closed the door behind her . Though she was no longer frozen on the spot, her mindset felt the same, like a fogged mirror during winter; not quite clear but still enough to process and picture what’s going on in front of her eyes. In that moment she really wished it wasn’t like that, she wished she were blackout drunk because it would have stopped her from seeing what was happening right in front of her eyes. Just a meter away from the doorframe to the lounge room was none other than Champ, kissing Stephanie.

Her memories flashed back to that night during the break. _Somebody Told Me by The Killers_ was blearing through the speakers at the highest volume it could. He seemed happy, almost pleased with what he had done. She didn’t seem bothered at all, not a drop of guilt was in her blood. Stephanie Jones. A name she went from lusting to loathing over in the split of a second. She never knew hatred was in her heart, it was always concealed away in a safe spot, but when Waverlys’ broke it all came pouring out.

Waverly remembered the feeling of the steamed tears rolling down her face that night as she blankly looked at the two of them who were clearly too caught up in their own moment to realise she was there. Her eyes began to well as Nicole caught up to her, saying hey as soon as she did but stopping herself as she realised something was up.

Her voice shook lightly in it’s seriousness, “Waves?”

Waverly’s voice strained as she spoke with built up tears falling from her eyes without even blinking, starring at the two of them, “_It’s too much._” Imminently Waverly went out the front door, walking as quick as she possibly could to reach her car.

Nicole straight away knew she had to make sure she was okay. She looked back to the direction of Dolls’ room, she knew he would be taking care of Chrissy and wouldn’t need to worry about her. She looked forward once more to the couple in front of them who pulled away at the same time.

“What you lookin’ at, Pippi Longstockings?” Stephanie mocked while Champ huffed out a laugh.

Nicole looked at them in disgust with no offence taken to their comments and rolled her eyes before she left.

Waverly held the slight sobs in and wiped the tears off her checks as they fell, her legs moving as fast as they could through the aching that transcended through her body. She could hear the slight patters of footsteps catching up to her with the match of her name being called but she was too embarrassed to even look up from her view of the car which she eventually got to.

“I’m sorry.” Waverly said just loud enough for Nicole to hear as she fumbled in her pocket for her key which allowed Nicole to catch up a little, she immediately twisted and unlocked the car.

“Sorry for what?” Nicole said which for some reason made Waverly even more emotional.

She got into the drivers side as Nicole ran over to the passengers side and got in as quick as she could, closing the door behind her.

“Waverly.” She stated to get her attention which resulted in Waverly shaking her head and putting the key into place, twisting it enough for the radio to start playing _Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips_ but not enough for the engine to start up as Nicole grasped her hands lightly.

“Waverly you’re clearly not okay and not in a state to be driving right now.” Nicole put slightly more firmly to fully grasp Waverly’s attention.

Her head ducked as she just leant into Nicole’s arms, her hands desperately holding onto her touch seeking comfort. Nicole was in shock to begin with but quickly adjusted to her beck and call, she held onto her till her sobs slowed down and she moved back into the comfort of her own seat, she wiped the tears with specs of mascara off her face as best as she could and took deep breaths before she spoke.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry you even got involved with this. With me.”

Her voice was small, almost not there as if her vocal chords had been snapped and were trying to mend themselves just for a single strum to only be broken all over again.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Nicole comforted, “We’ve all got our own shit going on.”

Waverly looked down and continued to keep herself in a calm state.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Nicole asked.

Waverly’s head nodded slightly, still looking down at the car seat.

Nicole asked a question that wasn’t the first time she had to ask from past situations, “Are you not over him?”

Waverly’s eyes scanned the car as her mind did for answers, Nicole was fully prepared for what she was used to, being somewhat of the rebound, helping people get over others. She was prepared to get hurt, she always was. She was prepared, but she didn’t need to be. Not this time.

“I am.” Waverly stated before finally looking at Nicole, “I am over him, it just still hurts, you know? The way it ended wasn’t clean, hell, neither of us even said it was over with at first. There was so much arguing afterwards that wasn’t even necessary because what he had done with her already happened- we weren’t fighting for anything, we were just yelling into this void of him wanting someone to screw around and toy with their emotions- and me! Just pouring my heart out in how much he did _just that_… I am over him and I’m ready to move on but I’m still being hurt by him… I’m starting to think that’ll never stop.”

Nicole took a moment to process it all, she placed the pieces together and spoke after a pause, “Firstly, fuck what’s-her-face, Bethany?”

“Stephanie.” Waverly whispered.

“Stephanie, yeah, _fuck her,”_ Nicole’s voice was slightly mad which made Waverly smile before she continued on, “and secondly, it will stop. You said yourself you’re ready to move on, that’s a step away from him, from letting him effect you and how you’re feeling.”

Waverly nodded, her eyes not leaving Nicole’s as her mouth patterned out the words _Thank You_ without any sound.

“It’s okay.” Nicole replied.

Waverly took a deep breath in and shook off her saddened state, turning the key further to start up the engine, “Do you want a ride?”

“No, no I’ve got my bike.” Nicole insisted.

“Oh,” Waverly put slightly disappointed but lifted her voice up where she could, “well… I hope to see you again, Haught. You’re really something special, you didn’t have to help me.”

“Well what else was I going to do? Smoke?” The suggestion made Waverly laugh once more which made Nicole feel she had actually made a difference, she held the car door open as she talked standing on the road, “And you’re not too shabby yourself, Earp. I’ll see you around.”

Nicole closed the door but it was followed by Waverly rolling down the window, “When?”

Nicole smiled, “When we always do- Sunday.”

Waverly grinned, “_Sunday_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> twitter: @earperfreak
> 
> instagram: @styllyfe
> 
> redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/stylistarz
> 
> teepublic: http://tee.pub/lic/styl

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s some of my wearp related platforms, hope you enjoyed!! Feel free to leave any comments, they’re really appreciated <3
> 
> Twitter: @earperfreak
> 
> Instagram: @styllyfe
> 
> Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/stylistarz


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